Active Member

I have a Yamaha RVX640 AV amp which comes with a variety of DSP modes.
I occasionally play around with the Cinema effects and am curious as to what benefit they actually offer.

The Cinema #1 modes seem to add some reverb - being based around old-style cinemas with dodgy accoustics.
But why would I want to corrupt a soundtrack in this way? Am I missing the point here...?

The Cinema #2 modes are modelled on more recent cinemas - and therefore have no discernable reverb. Consequently I can't really detect the diference between these and the standard PL2 and DD/DTS modes.
Perhaps I'm not listening hard enough.

The only mode that I'm tempted to use is the 'Mono Movie' mode which, ironically enough, adds shedloads of reverb to a mono signal resulting in a very 'otherwordly' effect.
It's just this very effect that astonishingly mimics the experience I used to get when seeing films in my local Granada cinema which had awful accoustics and just the one big speaker behind the screen. Hearing this effect applied to a soundtrack instantly transforms me back 30-odd years to the days of crappy 2nd features about yacht races and those dreadful stock-adverts for local high-street shops.
I'm not sure that it actually does the soundtracks any help, however, as I usually settle on 'PL2 Music' mode for Mono movie soundtracks.

Active Member

I use PL II movie for stereo, i find PL II music throws to much dialogue from the main speakers, as you'd want from music! I dont watch anything in mono so cant really say for that.
As for th DSP modes on DVD's. I am undecided, i still put on a dvd then flick between modes for 10 minutes before settling usually on straight mode. I have a 750se though.
i find the other offer up to much reverb for my liking, and i cant hear the channel stearing as well because of it, small details get lost in the reverb.

Moderator

When I first got an AV system I played with the DSP modes for about ten minutes and have never used any of them since.
All TV is watched with my system set to output DPL2 as a lot of programs are now encoded with DPL and even those that are not sound better to me in the psudo surround, just that bit more involving.

Standard Member

Yep, same here. Although I do still play with the modes on the 750se, as they can be customised, but it's more of a 'I wonder what this'll do' than preferring the sound. Music is a different matter, and I do switch programmes depending on the kind of music I'm listening to. Having said that, I've only really started listening to CD's again recently because I can hear them properly now I've got a decent system.

Standard Member

Strangely the only one I still use for TV is "Mono movie" when I'm watching old black and white classics...it does actually work well with them - it stops trying to add stereo effects to old films that just don't have stereo in the first place.